Rosemary's Sister

Brother of disaster and sister of our fate

Do you count the tragedies we see?

And brother of confusion and sister of debate

Do you remember the sister of Rosemary?

The doodlebugs were flying and the blitz was at its height

Rosemary lay sleeping with her sister only nine

And no one heard the one that hit, the one that blew the lid

Rosemary came out crying but her sister never did

And we fly high, our dreams are all in vain

One moment we are singing and the next we cry in pain

But high above the heavens in a host of angels' wings

Rosemary's sister will be dancing

Her mother cried all that year as many others did

There were times when she'd pull through now and again

And the people there in Bethnel Street in the rubble and the stone

Swept up the street and started all again

When tyranny is biting you do your best to try

And stifle all your heartache till it's safe again to cry

And when the darkness disappears and the light comes shining through

We'll gather up and start our fall anew

There's a teacher in the classroom, there's a mother in the hall

The children sit and wait for the bell for home

And Rosemary is waiting, she has a child now of her own

And she's waiting to collect and take her home

And sometimes in the firelight in the silence where she sits

Her mind goes back to Bethnel Street, the darkness and the blitz

And she hears if there's another one, then the end will be complete,

Well, I wonder what they'd say in the Bethnel Street